Name your favourite toy of all time!

Published: Tuesday, 07 August 2018

The people of Coventry – young and old – are being asked to name their favourite toy of all time.

The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum has made the appeal after a successful start to their summer exhibition, Play: An Exploration of Toys, Games & Fun, which is running until September 23, and features more than 200 items – ranging from outdoor toys through to board games and action figures and charts the history of play from 2,000 years ago through to the very latest technology.

At the same time as the physical exhibition, the Herbert would like people to engage with the exhibition digitally by uploading photos and stories of their own favourite toys to a Virtual Museum using #playattheherbert on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

A wide selection of digital donations will be featured within the exhibition itself, giving audiences the opportunity to have their own stories, photos and videos on show in the museum.

Francis Ranford, Cultural and Creative Director of Culture Coventry, said: “We have been delighted with the response to Play so far. It is appealing to people of all ages.

“We are seeing parents and grandparents visiting with their children and hearing a lot of conversations that start with the phrase ‘when I was your age’ and that’s exactly what we wanted to achieve in this exhibition which explores intergenerational play and the history of toys, games and fun!

“The exhibition highlights the importance of play and toys on people’s lives and how we play as children and how adults interact and play with their children is a huge part of who we are. The more feedback we get, the more interesting the story of Play becomes.

“We want the exhibition to be as accessible and engaging as possible, so we are asking people to donate to our Virtual Museum, which will give us a broader picture of which toys mean the most to the people of Coventry.”

Running alongside Play is the first ever major exhibition dedicated to a video games company which tracks the 30-year life of Twycross-based Rare and is titled Rare: From 8-bit to Xbox One.

Francis added: “We certainly expect a lot of people to say that video games are their favourite ‘toy’. Again, what Play and Rare have shown is the level of affection people have for their childhood favourites and video games are now fundamental parts of playing.”

The Play and Rare exhibitions are kindly supported by Rare and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

To potentially feature in the exhibition, you can donate photos of your own toys to the Virtual Museum by using #playattheherbert on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.